Two Russian players at IIHF Championship need medical checks after first game

OSTRAVA, Czech Republic, May 2. /TASS/. Two Russian players, Danis Zaripov and Viktor Tikhonov, injured in the first group stage match of the IIHF World Championship against Norway, have been sent to hospital for examination, chief coach Oleg Znarok said after the game played at CEZ Arena in Ostrava on Friday.

Russia beat Norway by six goals to two.

"We managed to made a good start with three attacking trios. Toward the end two of our forwards - Danis Zaripov and Viktor Tikhonov - suffered minor injuries. Both will go to hospital for examination. I am glad we won," Znarok said.

"After getting ahead by four goals to nothing in the first period we felt relaxed somewhat. The beginning of the second period was not very good. I did not like that at all. Besides, we had wasted too much strength. We could have made changes on the fly more often. But when everything is well in the attack it is very hard to change the attacking trios," Znarok said.

"The two goals conceded - that’s what I did not like at all. The more so, since we made mistakes in the defence. Evgeny Malkin and Nikolai Kulemin are now with us. Both will play in the next game. We cannot afford to have two full trios only," Znarok said.